


Economical Options

by argle_fraster



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Community: ff_exchange, Dubious Ethics, Final Fantasy Kiss Battle, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 03:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argle_fraster/pseuds/argle_fraster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the party finds themselves in need of assistance to get into Archades proper, Jules has some rather unorthodox terms for the arrangement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Economical Options

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2013 Final Fantasy Kiss Battle at the Final Fantasy Exchange on Dreamwidth.

Old Archades has the same stink that the rest of the city does, festering in its own rot, the grave society dug itself. But there is less of it here, amongst those who have long since fallen for grace - or the unlucky ones who have never had a taste of it. Archades itself has long since lost its charm, but this, the streets of Old Archades, where the beggars are thankful just to be seen, is even worse. It's difficult to be back, having run for so long, and yet here he is, standing with a deposed princess and a shamed knight, having done the one thing he swore that he would never do: return.

"Let us be on with this, then," he mutters, under his breath, and if Ashe takes note of it, she doesn't show it. Her shoulders are square and she is on a mission, and the rest of them are simply helpless in her sway, hoping that the waves don't take them under for more time than they can take.

Despite her royal nose - and Balthier thinks that she does indeed have one, for she can seek out like a finely-crafted spell the location of treasures that better pirates have lost their lives trying to find - it is _Vaan_ who finds the man they need. He's perhaps the worst of the lot in Old Archades: greedy, selfish, and far too cheeky for a man whose own position in the social ladder is lower than Basch's own.

Balthier chances a look to his right, at the man in question. Well, perhaps _not_ lower than Basch's - after all, if people could recall what the man looked like, he'd never be able to step foot in another civilized city again.

Jules leans back against one of the grimy, moss-covered pillars that used to hold up something perhaps more important than a storage building hosting squatters just trying to keep their heads dry. "Aye, I'll help. But it'll cost you."

Vaan is already digging around in his purse for the coins they'll need, and Balthier's hand is out before he can think about it, stilling the boy's eager fingers. They'll need those coins by the time they reach the city proper, and Balthier isn't looking to squander them on a cretin that roams the sewers by night.

"Terms first," he insists, to Jules, who seems unsurprised by the condition. "You tell us what we stand to gain from this unfortunate transaction, and we will decide if your offer is truly worth it."

Jules laces his fingers together, looking smug. "I know who you need to speak to in order to gain access to the gold-lined streets above."

He points upwards, towards the heavens - as if Archades wasn't ten feet in the opposite direction, better left to fester beneath Balthier's boots.

Besides him, Vaan shifts a bit, and asks, quietly, for at least he's _learned_ that his inane questions will usually warrant a smack to the back of the head, "Are the streets really paved with gold?"

"I rather think we could find whoever the miserable bastard is on our own," Balthier says, ignoring Vaan completely; he finds it's often best for his own sanity to tune the boy's babble out.

"And can you?" Jules asks, leaning forward. He's intrigued now, and Balthier knows the glow of someone who has a sod pegged. He struggles not to show the frustration on his face. "Can you find your missing link before sundown? I daresay, I don't think your princess will enjoy sleeping in the gutters of Old Archades."

"I am far more used to gutters than you might think," Ashe shoots back from between clenched teeth, but at least she doesn't go for her sword. Thank the Gods for small favors.

Balthier tries a quick calculation in his head. Even with Ashe's supernatural sense of finding what they need, when they need it, there are simply too many bodies housed within Old Archades to find the one they seek before nightfall - Jules is right. And the fact of the matter is that Old Archades is a breeding ground for the type of disease that only exists now in the tomes of history, long since removed from most civilized societies. Exposing the children to it - despite the fact that they have grown up in the seedier underbelly of Rabanastre - would be irresponsible.

His father had been a doctor; Balthier has seen how badly an infection can ravage the flesh and mind alike.

"What of it, then?" Basch asks. He's looking to Balthier, deferring a decision. Balthier wishes the last word was not on his own head this time.

"Name your terms," Balthier says, to Jules, who seems to have anticipated this the entire time. He doesn't wish to part with the coin they've spent so long trying to accumulate.

Jules' mouth twitches upwards. "50,000."

"Surely you jest," Ashe spits. "No information you could give could be worth a small fortune, just to gain access to Archades!"

But she forgets that in Archades, there is no moral compass, and those in need will scrape every last coin they think they can get from those desperate enough to try bartering with them.

"There has to be something else," Balthier says. Vaan's fingers tighten around the purse: good lad.

"May I remind you that we _must_ get there?" Basch murmurs, quietly, and Balthier does not think that Ashe hears him. "This is not a matter we can afford to be stingy on."

"And it would be foolish to keep our hands loose around our purse strings," Balthier replies.

He turns to Jules, stepping in front of Vaan in case the boy decides to take matters into his own hands and does something phenomenally stupid once again.

"I propose a negotiation," he offers.

"Accepted," Jules says, and hops off the broken cement block he was sitting on. For someone who spends his days wallowing in the sewers, he's remarkably spry. "Follow me to my office, and I'll hear your negotiation."

Ashe looks vaguely displeased when Balthier looks to her again, but he does as he's told - they have precious few other options available to them. Jules may be a rat, but at least he's vermin that Balthier knows. He cannot say the same about the man his father has become, and that fact is unsettling him more than he wishes to admit. He follows Jules 'round the corner to a small section of debris overlooking the hills down towards the Tchita Uplands, and crosses his arms over his chest.

"You're a parasite, praying on those who need it," he says, cross, "but even insects have a price. You aren't fooling yourself with that offer any more than you are fooling us with it."

"Then you'll hear what I truly want?" Jules asks, and Balthier doesn't much like the expression that's on his face.

"I will listen," Balthier says, "but I won't-"

That's as far as he gets before he's being pushed back against the side of the broken building itself. He never should have let his guard down when they got inside the city - he thought it safe to relax, because there was no longer the fear of a monster dropping down on them from the ceiling. Instead, the monster is right in front of him, and it's got him pressed back against a bit of brick that's painfully digging into his lower back.

Jules kisses him, and even Balthier is embarrassed at how badly it throws him. He isn't sure how to respond, because he can't quite wrap his head around the matter at hand - Jules isn't kissing him like it's a _jest_ , either; he's kissing him like he means it. He's grabbing Balthier's head and prying his lips apart, swiping in with heat and tongue that causes a noise to rise unbidden from Balthier's throat.

He should push Jules away; he's the lowest form of man, the kind that preys on the helpless. And yet he doesn't. He doesn't, and he isn't sure why, and at the end of all things, he isn't entirely sure that he _cares_. Jules is a dirty bastard and he kisses like one, and gods, if it isn't the sort of desperate, heady thing Balthier's been aching for for _weeks_.

It's strange kissing someone who knows who he is, who knows what he's done and how cowardly he's run, tail between his legs. Balthier lets Jules open his mouth a second time, let's the man take what he wants - he grabs at the man's lapels just to haul him closer, press him tighter. If this is what it takes to get them where they need to go, then Balthier will steal his own price right back.

After all, he's a sky pirate.

When they break apart, Balthier is struggling to find his breath and Jules' mouth is rubbed raw and red, lips slightly parted as he pants. The smirk is back, and it's worse now that Balthier wants to wipe it off - he wants to do a lot to that mouth, when he truly thinks about it, and the thought should be far more disturbing than it is.

"I should have known that you'd be open to negotiation," Jules says, almost sing-song, and _gods_ , he doesn't even try to disguise that fact that he's hard. He leans in and ruts against Balthier's leg, and it's going to take awhile before Balthier feels like he can go back to the others without giving himself away completely.

"Go back to your hole and die," Balthier hisses.

Jules tuts his tongue at him. "Temper, temper. Isn't that what always got you into trouble with the boss? You should be nicer to people who are doing you _favors_."

As far as Balthier can see, the only favor Jules has given him is the long, uncomfortable night he will have fighting off the memories of this - traveling in a group like his own is not conducive to finding time alone. He will be lucky to find an inn that doesn't require him to sleep too close for comfort to the underaged participants in their merry little adventure.

"I'll do it for 50," Jules continues. "And if you feel like taking a stroll down the stinking, festering alleyways of Old Archades tonight, you know where to find me. I think you'll find me very open to _other_ negotiations as well."

He slips his fingers into the pouch at Balthier's waist and comes out with the coin; then he climbs over the broken wall and disappears. It takes Balthier nearly ten minutes before he returns to the others.

Ashe is pacing, looking impatient. "Well?" she asks, without preamble.

"Put the purse away, Vaan," Balthier says, and hopes that his face has been schooled into a believable neutrality. "A much more economical offer presented itself. Shall we be off to the streets lined with money and reeking of greed?"


End file.
